1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a child car seat subframe that is easily disassembled into sections that will fit conveniently within a residential-sized dishwasher for repeated cleaning.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional child car seats typically consist of a rigid plastic structural subframe over which a padded fabric cover is attached. The padded cover is typically retained in place by an elastic perimeter that wraps around the edge of the subframe, and/or small plastic or metal hooks that couple to attachment points molded into the peripheral surface edge of the subframe.
A harness for securing the child into the child seat, typically a three-point harness, passes through slots in the subframe, and is generally secured behind the subframe between the slots. Penetrations are typically provided in the cover for passing the child harness through, as well as other accessories that may be provided. On some units, a T-bar is included as part of the harness. Additionally, a crossover bar may be included as a supplemental restraint.
The subframe provides structural integrity and, on some units, provides energy absorption in the event of a vehicle collision. The subframe is typically of unitary molded construction, often with accessory subcomponents attached, such as crossover bars, T-bars, cup holders, and the like. Slots or channels are molded into the subframe to provide a path for the vehicle seat belt, which is used to secure the unit in place in the vehicle seat.
Generally, the molded structure of the subframe is populated with ribs, depressions, penetrations, and other topographical features that serve various purposes, such as providing rigidity, strength, and weight reduction, forming a vehicle seat belt path, and providing attachment points for the child harness, cover, and other accessories.
FIGS. 1A-1D depict a variety of conventional child car seats.
Small children are indigenously messy, and child car seats invariably accumulate spills of numerous tacky fluids, such as milk or juice. In addition, dry spills, such as cereals, cookie crumbs, and the like, often combine with the liquid spills and form a mortar-like, hardened consistency that can be very difficult to remove.
The padded cover on most commercially available child car seats, such as those depicted in FIGS. 1A-1D, is easily removed and washed by hand or in a conventional washing machine. However, it is not uncommon for significant portions of the accumulated spills to pass through the padded cover, either leaching directly through the fabric, or passing through the various cover penetrations. Spills that seep through the cover often accumulate in the various topographical features of the subframe. Access to spills accumulated on the subframe is difficult at best and genuinely burdensome. Often, due to the overly burdensome nature of accessing the accumulated spills, the cleaning of the subframe is scarcely performed. Thus, subframe cleaning is generally a tedious and difficult job, and when performed, only partially effective.
There remains a need in the art for a child car seat that can be easily disassembled and reassembled, preferably without the use of hand tools, having a subframe that is composed of compact components small enough to fit collectively into a residential-sized dishwasher for thorough and repeated cleaning of all of its ubiquitous grooves, indentations, crevices, and other salient nooks and crannies.
The prior art does not teach or disclose a child car seat capable of these features. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,229,132 issued to Meeker, et al., on Jun. 12, 2007, entitled “FOLDABLE BOOSTER CAR SEAT,” a foldable, collapsible seat is taught that folds compactly to facilitate transportation, and reduce physical space requirements for storage at the retail level. The folding booster seat is comprised of two main molded components, the seat and back sections, joined by a main pivot. The pivot allows the back and seat sections to fold toward each other. The reduction in size due to folding is roughly half the size of a typical non-folding seat, which although minimizes retail shelf space, is too large to fit in a normal residential size dishwasher. Moreover, due to folding, the car seat sections will not have all surfaces exposed for dishwasher cleaning. The car seat is not designed for easy disassembly (or reassembly) that would allow all surfaces to be exposed during washing.
In U.S. Publication No. 2007/0236061 issued to Meeker, et al., on Oct. 11, 2007, entitled, “LOW COST ADJUSTABLE AND FOLDABLE CAR SEAT,” a child car seat is taught that is foldable, has an adjustable back height, and folding armrests, to minimize warehouse and shipping space. Although it may be possible to fold this car seat in a residential dishwasher, once again, this type of design does not lend itself for such washing. In a dishwasher, the folded car seat would not have all surfaces exposed for direct washing. Furthermore, this design does not teach or disclose easy attach/detach points to facilitate disassembly or reassembly.